Calgary jury trials and juror selection will be held on Stampede grounds

The Stampede grounds have been sitting idle all summer, but they have been called to serve in a new way — jury duty.

This fall, jury trials in Calgary will be held in the Stampede Grandstand, and jury selection will take place in the Big Four Building.

The Stampede facilities offer large enough spaces for the physical distancing that will be required when court resumes operations in September, Alberta Court of Queen's Bench announced Thursday.

"The principles of open and accessible justice, and timely access to justice, make it necessary for the court to resume criminal jury selections and trials," read a statement on the court's website.

The statement stressed that the public health requirements, especially physical distancing requirements, make it necessary to move jury selections and jury trials outside the existing courthouses.

Regular operations have been suspended at the Calgary Courts Centre since mid-March, with some proceedings being conducted online, trials postponed and limited cases being heard. Jury benches remained vacant.

A provincial assessment of the existing facilities showed that jury trials could not resume in the existing courtrooms.

"Courtrooms and jury retiring rooms, with very few exceptions, are too small to accommodate juries and abide by physical distancing directives of Alberta Health Services," the statement read.

That assessment holds true for judicial centres across the province. In Edmonton, all jury selection and jury trials will be conducted at the spacious Bonaventure Gate Writing Centre — other judicial centres will be announced on an "ad hoc, per-trial basis."

Defense attorney Al Hepner says there are concerns over logistics, distancing, timely access to justice, and the fact that a lot of Queen's Bench jury cases involve defendants who are in custody.

"I've got a murder case coming up for the whole month of November, so this is very timely for me," he said. "In my head I'm already, what's going to happen, how are we going to do this?"

Two concerns are security and separation.

"We pick a jury so that's 12 people plus often there are two alternates — we need those to be secure. They need to be distanced from everyone else, and we need room for them," he said.

Hepner said secure prisoner transportation could be an issue.

"That's a concern for the solicitor general because they are the ones that are court and prisoner security — they've got to get the prisoners from the Remand Centre, male or female, in the van and then to where, the BMO centre, the Big Four? The Grandstand?"

Hepner said there are holding cells in the Calgary Courts Centre basement where accused are held when not in the courtroom. However, new arrangements will have to be made.

But, he says, the legal community will have to adapt.

"They're going to have to contain that, there's going to have to be some advanced planning to ensure that the accused people and their council have space, and the Crown and their witnesses have got space, they're not really intermingling together — and the jury, that's really important," he said. "There's going to be space issues I see but If everybody works together we can get it done."

Edmonton will test its new facility first, with a criminal jury trial starting on Sept. 8, and jury summons have already been issued. Calgary will be next.

The new locations are in line with the recommendations of the action committee on court operations in response to COVID-19, which addresses physical distancing requirements and safety protocols.

All potential jurors who are summoned to appear will be provided with the new guidelines, which will be in keeping with current courthouse protocols — masks, cleaning and physical distancing.

Additional court-related requirements will include separate entrances for the accused and any witnesses involved in the jury trial, private meeting spaces for lawyers and clients, and access to parking and public transit.